Escapement and transfer mechanism.



R. L. Wucox.

ESVCAPEMENT AND TRANSFER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION EILED MAY 8. 1911- Patented Dec. 3,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I lw w i m R. L. WlLCOX.

YESCAPEMIE'NT AND TRANSFER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FHLED MAY 37,1911.

Patented Dec. 3, 1918.

2'SHEETSSHEET 2.

-QHH

NW HH "To all whom it may concern:

RICHARD LESTER WILCOX, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE WATER- BUJR'Y FARREL FOUNDRY AND MACHINE COMPANY, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT,

A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

nscnrninnngr AND rnansrnn MECHANISM.

eeann.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

Be it known that T, RICHARD LESTER coir, a citizen of the United States, residing at Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented cer-' tain new and useful Improvements in'dEscapement and Transfer Mechanism, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to escapement and transfer mechanisimof the type designed to receive a single blank frpm a conveying mechanism and to transfer it therefrom .to operating tools. g

It is the object of this invention, among other things, to provide mechanism of this character that will insure the receipt and transfer of a single article at a "time and composed of parts of such design and structure as to be economically constructed, readily assembled and will operate with accuracy and efficiency.

To these, and other ends, my invention consists in the escapement and transfer mechanism, having certain details of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the claims. 1

Referring to the drawings, in which like numerals of reference designate like parts in the several figures; A

Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved transfer mechanism, associated with one fornrof operating tools, with .which it is adapted to work in harmony; a

Fig. 2'is a plan view of one form of the escapement tongs, with the mechanism ad-- jacent thereto;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of another form of escapement tongs;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of my improved escapement mechanism with the parts in section, when taken longitudinally through.

the escapement tongs; v

Fig. 5'is a front view thereof; and

' Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are elevations 'of various forms of blanks that may besuccessfully operated upon in my improved device, Flg 6 being a cylindrical shell, Fig. 7 a so lid cylinder and Fig. 8 a cone.

As shown in the drawifigs my escapeinent and transfer mechanism is designed to operate upon blanks that are cylindrical in form, eithersolid or a shell as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings, and blanks of irregular form, such as a cone, as illus- Patented neeafiai. v

trated in Fig. 8. These blanks are shown as v with which my invention can be successfully associated is shown in the drawings, and

consists of a bolster plate 1, having a slide 2 therein that receives a reciprocating mo- .tion inthe direction of its length by mechanism not shown.

Movably mounted within th e slide 2 are a plurality of spring fingers 3 that are pivotally connected atone end to said slide within the sockets 4t, and have semi-circular grooves in their inner faces adjacent to the outer ends thereof which combine to form a receiving opening 5. Springs 6 that'liebetween the fingers 3 and the slide 2 exert a pressure so as to more the fingers inwardly. Beneath these fingers in the bolster plate 1, are a plurality of dies 7, the form and construction of which are .not material to the present invention. Suffice it to say, however, that with each reciprocatory move ment of the slide 2, the fingers 3' travel .from one die 7 to the next die, and at the succeeding movement of the slide they return to their original position.

The specific construction and arrangement of the mechanism above described, constitutes no part of the present inventlon, which consists in part in mechanism for receiving,

releasing and transferring blanks one by 'upon their pivot mounting and cause their inner ends, having the stop pins 16 therein, to move toward each other. These tongs are moved upon theirgpivot mountings against the tension ofthe spring 15 so as to move the pins 16 away from each other by the plunger 17 which is slidably mounted in the standard 10 and provided with a ball 18 upon its lower end, a coil spring 19 surrounding the shank thereof, and a collar '20 upon its opposite end. As the plunger 17 moves downwardly, the ball passes from the upper tongs 13 to the lower tongs 14, thereby permitting the .upper tongs to close through the action of the spring 15, and the lower tongs to open, the movement of the plunger 17 in the opposite direction producing the reverse action upon the lower and upper tongs.

The'distance between the sets of pins 16 and the upper and lower tongs is substantially the same as the length of the blank, so that only one blank at a time can rest therebetween. k

As the irregular shape of articles such as illustrated in Fig. 8 are not of uniform diameter throughout their length it is necessary that the shape of the jaws of the lower tongs should be modified.

In the mechanism associated with the standard 9, such means are shown, the lower jaws designated 21 being solid instead of provided with pins 16, as are the upper jaws, and the semi-circular recesses 22 and the abutting faces of said tongs "combining to form an opening of substantially the same shape as the blank to :be received therein.

Mounted in the bracket 11; so as to move in a path at substantially a right angle to the slide 2, are the transfer slides 23 and 24:, upon which the tongs 25 are pivotally .mounted through the screws 26; aspring 27 between two arms of thetongs exerts its ten= sion so as to move the opposite ends ofsaid tongs toward'each other; a stop 28 fixed in the slide liinits the inward position of one of said tongs, so that the pockets 29 in the outer ends thereof are directly below the conductor tube 8, when in its retracted position. p

The tongs 30 are of substantially the same construction as ,the tongs 25, and have a pocket 31 at their .outer end. Upon one of the tongs 30 is a lug 32, which in one of its,

positions engages the point of a screw 33 threaded in the bracket 11 and when so en gaged holds the tongs so that they are not entirely closed when in their rearmost positions. As the tongs 30 are designed to re nism for imparting such motion is adapted for use with this apparatus. The plunger 17 is moved downwardl journaled in a fixed part 35, rock arm 36 fixed to said shaft having a screw'37 therein through the action of a rock shaft 34: that is i which engages theupper end of said plunger. It is apparent that the extent and timing of the movement of the plunger 17 may be varied by the change of the position of the screw 37 within the rock arm 36, a jam nut- 38 being provided to lock the screw in any of its adjusted positions.

Aiiy means may be utilized for imparting a rockingmovement to the arm 36, a lever 39 being connected therewith, through which such movement may be transmitted.

In operation the cylindrical blank passes down through the conductor tube 8 and is discharged from the lower end thereof with the bottom of the blank resting upon the pins 16 in the lower tongs 14, the plunger 17 then moving downwardly and permitting the upper tongs 13 to close and the pins therein to pass under the neXt upper blank in the column of blanks within the conductor tubes, at the same time opening the lower tongs 14 so that the pins 16 therein pass from under the blank, which then drops by gravity into the pocket 31 the tongs 30. he slide 23 then moves forward until the pocket 31 registers with the openings 5 in the pair of spring fingers 3, directly in front thereof, at which time it is ready to be forced out of said tongs by the punch mechanism, (not shown) and! not forming part of the present invention. The-slide 23 is then withdrawn and the above described operations are repeated.

As the vertical distance between the pins 16 betweenthe lower and upper tongs is substantially the same as the blank, it is apparent that only one blank can escape from the conductor tube at a time, the pins 16 in the lower tongs forming a rest for the bottom of the blankin the column, and when they move away from each other, the pins 16 in the upper pair of tongs prevent the v 'escape of another blank'until the tongs l4 incense Y are again moved together and the pins I6 therein form astop for the next blank. As soon as the forward movement of the shde 23 begins the lug 32 passes beyond the point of the fixed screw 33 and the spring 27 moves one ofthe arms of the tongs 30 so as to grip. the blank. It is apparent that the pocket 31 is therefore slightly larger in diameter when the jacket drops therein than after the forward movement of ,the slide begins.

Blanks of irregular form, such as shown in Fig. 8, are delivered into the pockets 29 of the tongs 25 in substantially the same manner as above described, and the slide 2% moves forward in substantially the same manner as the slide 23.

There are minor changes and alterations that can be made in my invention, aside from those suggested, and I would therefore have it understood, that I do not limit myself to the exact construction herein shown and described, but claim all that falls fairly within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In amechanism of the class described; blank feed checking means; blank-receiving means; and blank conveying means mounted upon a base movable in relation to said blank feed checking means whereby said blank conveying means isalternately brought into juxtaposition with said blank feed checking means and said blank receivin means.

2. In a mechanism for fee mg and con veying blanks; feed checking tongs and conveying tongs, the latter being mounted on a base movable in relation to said feed checking tongs, whereby blanks taken from said feed checking tongs are delivered at a distant point.

3. In a mechanism for feeding and coilveying blanks from a source of supply to a selected point; a pluralityof feed checking tongs; blank conveying means mountedupon a base movable in relation to said feed checking tongs; and aplurality of blank receiving devices provided on a base movable independently relative to said conveying means. If

4. In combination; means for conveying blanks to a delivery station; means for permitting the escape at said delivery station of only one of said blanks at a time, said means comprising a plurality of tongs; and a member substantially globular in form mounted so as to be movable between said pairs of tongs and by its successiveengagement with said pairs of tongs opening the same. I

5. In a mechanism of the class described,

the combination of a feed checking means and ,a blank conveying means, each of said means comprising a plurality of tong-like devices and having means associated therewith for bringing them into operative relation with each other in a selected order.

6. In a mechanism of the class described,

a plurality of self-closing, tong-like devices for controlling the feed of a blank from a. column of blanks, means for positively and alternately openingsaid devices, and conveyer tong-like devices mounted upon a.

movable base and to which conveyer devices the blank is delivered from said feed con trolling devices and by said conveyer de vices delivered to a distant point.

, each means comprising a plurality of levers of the same class constituting tong-like, feedchecking devices, and a member movable between said feed checking devices-for alternately opening the same.

9. In an esca-pement and transferring mechanism as described, a plurality of tonglike, feed-controlling devices mounted upon a supporting member, means for alternately opening said devices and a blank transferring tong-like device mounted upon a member movable independently relative to said supporting member.

In an escapement and transferring mechanism as described, the combination of a plurality of tong-like, feed-controlling de vices mounted upon a supporting member, means for alternately blank-conveying, tong-like device mounted upon a'member movable independently of said supporting member, and a series of deliverin tong-like devices so mounted that any se ected one can be positioned in line with said conveying device.

. 11. In a mechanism of the class described; feed checking means; conveyer means mounted upon a base movable in relation to opening'said devices, a

said feed-checking means, and bothmeans Y opening movement of said arms or members, a blank transferring device and a movable support thcrefor comprising a sliding devices; a spreader between said de-' member which in one position is brought into operative relation With said checking device. 4

13. In a mechanism for feeding, blanks, 5 the combination of a plurality of tong-like, feed-checking devices, and a tong-like device which delivers a blank to one of aseries of dies and all of said devices being operatively associated so as to operate in timed relation with each other. 10

In testimony whereof I have hereunto afiixed my signature.

RICHARD LESTER WILCOX. 

